Roster Building Thread - Part XI (Off-season edition)

[Levitate]

We certainly bullied Washington all over the ice.

I think we would play with more bite if we were ever in a series and not like a dog chasing a car all the time.

Agree. I don't think they should focus on the toughness part. No matter how tough you are you can't use that to your advantage if you're chasing all game.

Their play in their own zone and breakouts has to be better. That shoudl theoretically lead to better offense, but the offense also has to change a bit. I get the "go for high quality scoring chances" thing but they could certainly improve their chances by also learning how to maintain possession and cycle the puck better.

Mikka has to be better as well, if he's going to stick around. I'm glad he started the playoffs off well but can't keep having him disappear and then say "well he was matched up against the other teams top line" because honestly he's not good enough overall to actually win those matchup enough when games are tight.

One player I am definitely disappointed in overall is Kakko who just never grabbed the opportunities. Maybe he'll figure it out someday and maybe it makes more sense to keep him another year or two but dude has to decide what kind of player he's going tobe and how to be it. The up and down and lacking confidence can't continue, whether here or somewhere else.

Team can definitely still be competitive and some tweaks, some luck, some better matchups, they have a chance, but IMO I also think if you can you eye the big swing that Florida took 2 years ago and see if you can do something similar. Not a complete overhaul but something big to shakeup the makeup of the team a bit. Not sure if anything out there is available for that to happen though

 

[Machinehead]

Don't sleep on Berard. He was playing a bit of RW in Hartford and he's like a dog on a bone in terms of his puck retrievals. I'm not sure Cuylle or Berard are top-6 options to start the season but a 3rd line of:

Cuylle-Chytil-Berard

Couild be a nuisance to play against

Berard has "2014 Rangers" written all over him.

 

[KevinFinnerty]

let's sign Reinhart this offseason?

 

[irishlaxburger2]

If they're not willing to move on from Trouba, this fanbase shouldn't be willing to treat them like they're a contender. Because they won't be.

In this series, not only did Trouba prove he's not a top-pairing guy worthy of his $8M contract, he proved he's unplayable this deep in a playoff run. We literally dropped him to the 3rd pair and gave him sheltered minutes, and he *still* was a major reason we lost. He's an abysmal player. He should've been scratched completely. And not even Stu Bickel got scratched.

 

[Fitzy]

Berard has "2014 Rangers" written all over him.

I’m unclear how that’s a bad thing assuming he plays in the bottom 6.

I’d take that bottom 6 over our current one 11/10 times

 

[LeetchisGod]

If anybody brought up the Tkachuk thing and said "Look, he scores a lot of 5v5 goals and maybe can help us get back to a cycle game. Plus, another Kreider, at the very least, is attractive," then, I might be willing to see you eye to eye. Nobody has done that.

It's always "they don't get it done when it counts and they need a guy that gets it done when it counts."

View attachment 879159

This board has anointed this guy their next Messier with no proof of concept.

I'm not saying that. I'm saying that Brady Tkachuk provides an attitude and skillset that this team lacks. He is a major pain in the ass to play against like his brother. Playing the Rangers is a walk in the park. We needed a borderline NHL player like Rempe to drag this team into the fight. That speaks for itself.

 

[Levitate]

let's sign Reinhart this offseason?

do you really want to hear bill and vally that much

 

[Machinehead]

I’m unclear how that’s a bad thing assuming he plays in the bottom 6.

I’d take that bottom 6 over our current one 11/10 times

Didn't say it was a bad thing. The 2014 Rangers are my perfect hockey team.

 

[Levitate]

If they're not willing to move on from Trouba, this fanbase shouldn't be willing to treat them like they're a contender. Because they won't be.

In this series, not only did Trouba prove he's not a top-pairing guy worthy of his $8M contract, he proved he's unplayable this deep in a playoff run. We literally dropped him to the 3rd pair and gave him sheltered minutes, and he *still* was a major reason we lost. He's an abysmal player. He should've been scratched completely. And not even Stu Bickel got scratched.

I bet he's playing hurt but he's still bad

and yeah if you're legitimately hurt it's impossible to play through up to your regular level like it's just "playing through pain". Anyone who's legitimately gotten a real injury and tried to play or do somethign competitive knows you are always handicapped.

I broke my arm the day before a mountain bike race and still raced the next day in terrible conditions and survived (didn't know it was broken at the time but sure did know it was messed up) but was very much slower than usual on a lot of stuff because my arm would just collapse if I did something a certain way. It was impossible to just "ignore" that, it wasn't just pain, it was physically impossible.

 

[Machinehead]

I'm not saying that. I'm saying that Brady Tkachuk provides an attitude and skillset that this team lacks. He is a major pain in the ass to play against like his brother. Playing the Rangers is a walk in the park. We needed a borderline NHL player like Rempe to drag this team into the fight. That speaks for itself.

Playing the the Rangers is a walk in the park because they suck.

 

[Machinehead]

let's sign Reinhart this offseason?

I agree, let's just go over the cap and see if the NHL actually does anything about it.

 

[Bacon Artemi Bravo]

They don't need to play with more nastiness they need to score goals when it matters and not be disasters in their own end

Getting to the net in the post season requires some snarl and some compete and some size

 

[noncents]

This board has anointed this guy their next Messier with no proof of concept.

absurd hyperbole.

ottawa has issues beyond "their captain's culture setting prevents them from winning!"

Brady is a good 5v5 player and would add an element we don't have enough of in our top 6. unfortunately he's well compensated for it, enough so to require financial flexibility we don't really have. plus the assets we'd have to send would be exorbitant.

i'm curious who some alternative "top 6 with gumption" options might be. someone said bertuzzi, i like konecny but he's not moving

 

[Machinehead]

Getting to the net in the post season requires some snarl and some compete and some size

It also requires speed and skill that we don't have.

NHL defensemen who are good enough to play on a third/fourth round team, are going to stop forwards from getting to the front if their structure is maintained. I don't care if you have a gun.

We don't have the ability to draw defenders out of position at 5v5.

 

[Machinehead]

absurd hyperbole.

ottawa has issues beyond "their captain's culture setting prevents them from winning!"

Brady is a good 5v5 player and would add an element we don't have enough of in our top 6. unfortunately he's well compensated for it, enough so to require financial flexibility we don't really have. plus the assets we'd have to send would be exorbitant.

i'm curious who some alternative "top 6 with gumption" options might be. someone said bertuzzi, i like konecny but he's not moving

We have "gumption" in house.

We need to get the ECHL players out of our defense corps and replace the high-priced forwards in our top six who suck ass at 5v5.

We're missing the forest for the trees again, or whatever the f*** that saying is.

 

[Bacon Artemi Bravo]

It also requires speed and skill that we don't have.

NHL defensemen who are good enough to play on a third/fourth round team, are going to stop forwards from getting to the front if their structure is maintained. I don't care if you have a gun.

We don't have the ability to draw defenders out of position at 5v5.

That's fair...our guys don't do any of what either of us are talking about. Any play to the slot or to the net was thwarted with ease.

 

[Machinehead]

That's fair...our guys don't do any of what either of us are talking about. Any play to the slot or to the net was thwarted with ease.

They're just not a good team 5v5. They're not good at any aspect of it.

They do need a culture change, but it's not really getting tougher or wanting it more. Their style sucks and they have too many guys who survived in this league (Mika chief among them) playing this niche style because they're not actually good.

 

[LeetchisGod]

Look if they're not gonna move Trouba then fine, I get it, but they can't keep pretending he's a legtimate shut down guy who can play top 4 minutes like this.

Pick your spots with him, whatever, that's fine, stop relying on him to be a big cog in the defense though. All that extra stuff can't be allowed to obscure the fact that he's just not playing actual DEFENSE well. Shelter him, pick his spots, whatever, but enough with Trouba in the top 4 and trying to match him up

Whether this team commits to Lindgren will go a long ways towards showing us how this is gonna go. I get all the reasons why you "reward" the guy but committing long term to a player who is always hurt and at his best has been "kinda OK" is nuts. AND he's another guy they have to stop relying on to play top minutes. Here's a chance to restructure things, take it. Don't just dig in . Find a way to get better. Making the D better isn't going to happen by spinning your wheels searching for a 6th defenseman that will somehow make it all better. The problem is in the top 4.

Do you seriously think that's going to happen? He was promoted at the first sign of adversity. Drury has to take away Lavi's toy.

 

[irishlaxburger2]

I bet he's playing hurt but he's still bad

and yeah if you're legitimately hurt it's impossible to play through up to your regular level like it's just "playing through pain". Anyone who's legitimately gotten a real injury and tried to play or do somethign competitive knows you are always handicapped.

I broke my arm the day before a mountain bike race and still raced the next day in terrible conditions and survived (didn't know it was broken at the time but sure did know it was messed up) but was very much slower than usual on a lot of stuff because my arm would just collapse if I did something a certain way. It was impossible to just "ignore" that, it wasn't just pain, it was physically impossible.

He's a below-average NHL defensemen even when he's healthy in the regular season, so an injury certainly doesn't justify keeping his contract.

If he didn't have that letter on his chest, I think the entire fanbase would be clamoring for us to get rid of him immediately. Unfortunately though, he has that letter makes collectively makes us feel resigned to the fact that we're stuck with him. That's a terrible position for everyone to be in.

 

[LOFIN]

Call me a cynic, but I have a hard time seeing them move on from Trouba. Trading away the captain... I just don't see it happening. It should, but it won't.

 

[McRanger92]

Miller
Chytil
Lindgren
Kakko
Jones
Othmann
2024 1st round pick

Are all guys I can see used as ammo to upgrade on D and at RW. It's time consolidate the meh, into an actuall difference maker or 2 that bumps us up a level. Not saying to deal all of them but you backfill the lineup spots with Rempe, Edstrom, Berard, etc. Realistically, none of the core guys are leaving.

 

[Levitate]

Getting to the net in the post season requires some snarl and some compete and some size

bullshit

it's nearly impossible to actually get to the net with the puck on your stick without your line making some incredibly skilled plays. It's nearly impossible to do anything about your teammates in front of the net if you can't get the puck through the layers of shot blockers

The NHL now is scoring off the rush or being able to move the D enough with puck movement to open lanes.
The unicorn players who have size, skill, and nastiness are very few and if we're pinning our hopes on finding one of those then they might as well send out another letter.

 

[LeetchisGod]

He's a below-average NHL defensemen even when he's healthy in the regular season, so an injury certainly doesn't justify keeping his contract.

If he didn't have that letter on his chest, I think the entire fanbase would be clamoring for us to get rid of him immediately. Unfortunately though, he has that letter makes collectively makes us feel resigned to the fact that we're stuck with him. That's a terrible position for everyone to be in.

If we can trade Callahan who actually was an effective player, we can trade Trouba.

 

[noncents]

We have "gumption" in house.

We need to get the ECHL players out of our defense corps and replace the high-priced forwards in our top six who suck ass at 5v5.

We're missing the forest for the trees again, or whatever the f*** that saying is.

you keep making this about something else.. nobody is saying there isn't a problem with the defense or the poor 5v5 play.

they're saying that among the population of good 5v5 players, the ones that are worth targeting particularly are the ones that play with snarl. I dont think we have enough of that in our top 6.

tkachuk is an excellent 5v5 player who has snarl. all else equal he'd be a great addition to this team.

 

[NYR Viper]

It also requires speed and skill that we don't have.

NHL defensemen who are good enough to play on a third/fourth round team, are going to stop forwards from getting to the front if their structure is maintained. I don't care if you have a gun.

We don't have the ability to draw defenders out of position at 5v5.

This comes from players being able to win 1v1 battles or beat a defender 1v1. This is why Trochek and Lafreniere are so unique on this team, which is weird for today's NHL. You have to be able to challenge defenders at least enough that another defnesive player hesitates to hedge against a move, allowing an opening.

Fox does it
Lafreniere does it
Trochek does it
Chytil does it

Beyond that, Zibanejad does it when he wants to and that's it...